Original Research by School Decision on Strasburg High School
Strasburg High School serves grades nine through twelve in the unincorporated community of Strasburg, Colorado, a rural bedroom community along the I-70 corridor east of Denver. The school is part of the Strasburg School District 31J, a small district that operates as a center of community activity in this low-density, car-dependent area. Strasburg itself has grown rapidly over the past several decades, with new housing continuing to be built as the town functions as a commuter base for people who work in Aurora, Brighton, and Denver. The school sits within a town that has a compact Main Street with small businesses, a post office, medical clinics, and civic anchors like the park and recreation district and the Comanche Crossing Museum.
The high school enrolls a modest number of students for its grade band. The student body is diverse: a little more than half of students are white, and a substantial share are Hispanic, with smaller groups of students who are Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and two or more races. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that reflects the economic mix of the community. The district has publicly reported that over a recent period it has seen a notable increase in students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, an increase in minority students, and an increase in multi-lingual learners. In response, the district has implemented intensive intervention programs designed to support diverse learning needs — a shift in instructional approach that families may want to ask about further.
State testing data was not available for this school, so there is no direct information on how students here perform on Colorado’s assessments. A graduation rate was also not reported in the data we reviewed. These gaps are not explained by the school’s grade span or type — Strasburg High School is a regular high school serving traditional high school grades — so a parent or guardian may want to contact the school directly to ask about academic outcomes, including how students have performed on state tests and what the school’s graduation rate has been in recent years.
The district undertook a significant capital construction investment in a recent fiscal year, a major infrastructure project for a rural district of this size that likely involved new or renovated school facilities. This suggests that the school’s physical plant may have seen recent improvements, which can affect the learning environment and capacity for programs.
The housing market in Strasburg shows home values near the state average. The area is primarily car-dependent, with I-70 providing the main regional access. The population has grown substantially over the past few census cycles, and new housing continues to be built, so the school is likely serving a community that is still adding families. The broader Adams County context places the district among a set of thirteen districts in the county, but the comparison metrics — proficiency, graduation rate, and chronic absenteeism — were not available for this school, so a direct academic positioning against those neighbors is not possible from the data we have.
For a family considering Strasburg High School, the picture is one of a small high school in a growing rural commuter town, serving a student body that has become more diverse and economically varied over time. The district has invested in facilities and has publicly acknowledged shifting student demographics with a programmatic response. The lack of published state assessment data and graduation rate means that the school’s academic track record is not transparent from the sources we reviewed, and that is likely the first question a family would want to pursue with the school itself. The community offers a Main Street core, a recreation district, and a museum, but daily life requires a car, and the school is the kind of institution where the district’s small size and local role may mean that relationships with staff and a close-knit environment are a defining feature.
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